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发表于 2026-3-16 12:04:37
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Partisanship on Iran Is Dangerous for America
5 x) A) T' _$ B8 L4 zTrump is doing the right thing for the U.S., and we Democrats should judge the war on # a5 G2 h$ V: T, f7 `3 U
the merits.
) Q% [& S7 v: n, c9 C% IBy David Boies
" e- E( s7 E* s1 T) [% c0 uMarch 12, 2026 1:34 pm ET 7 m% \# G( m* m, w ]- _4 C3 B5 ?) l
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Every past president since Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat alike, has declared that
' a4 s. p: ^- d r7 H! |Iran couldn’t be permitted to develop nuclear weapons. Not one acted to prevent it.
" s) g* P. o- }$ \( e. REvery president since Ronald Reagan has condemned Iran’s role in terrorism against
1 O" X5 m, U- SAmerican citizens, interests and allies. Not one acted to stop it. Instead each president
6 c: M9 P* y! Pleft his successor with a more dangerous Iran and a more complicated threat to
. j4 \- t5 Z, q3 E2 x- baddress. % U2 P, X, U1 B- @" h
; K( i3 Z0 z% `& x4 b2 s5 KLast June President Trump undertook a limited military operation designed to interrupt
0 o9 r0 V2 b& ?, ?; _Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and discourage the country from continuing its 3 E( t+ G( n. N
nuclear program. In the face of Iran’s refusal to forswear nuclear weapons and evidence 5 p+ V& h5 C2 L
that it was rapidly increasing the number, sophistication and range of its missiles, Mr.
4 f0 C( Q6 a" n% N) T5 ?/ \Trump began the current military campaign. 1 \# U4 z( J$ C
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If he hadn’t acted, his successor would have been left with an even more dangerous . c/ }/ Y1 P! m
choice than his predecessors left him. Three or four years from now, the Iranian missiles
6 P0 R, H* A4 d4 J9 d/ [: P, Cnow hitting Iran’s neighbors could be hitting Berlin or London, perhaps even New York
' x1 o: w7 v/ ]. m9 C# r3 Eor Washington—perhaps with a nuclear device or at least a dirty bomb. - b9 g) r! V" U0 o6 x$ m
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No sensible person wants a war, a president least of all. Wars destroy lives, waste
, F# u$ d/ b( x s& Mtreasure and usually are unpopular. But the widespread hostility to this military action
4 t2 L. J; X& T: y- Fseems untethered to any serious discussion of the merits. What is the alternative? + H, E" f/ \( \! p8 D
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Obviously, few are prepared to say it is simply to permit religious madmen who swear - ?/ _) o [7 n" s+ A& ^
“death to America” and back up their threats with terrorism to secure nuclear weapons 2 V0 k- {" J4 R6 U. h
and the capability to deliver them. The scope and scale of Iran’s response show how d) C% u' {3 B& b! _: T
much its military capabilities have progressed, and how dangerous it would have been. x& Z. `5 ^& \- F
to permit them to increase further.
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, d( w& I* }% x3 ~- J& U1 @For three decades we have tried everything that each president could think of. We’ve
; \* _# A7 C) jtried being nice, talking tough, moral suasion, negotiated agreement, economic
5 k" K" s" t, U5 w. z- Jsanctions. None worked. The problem is that there is only one language Iran’s leaders
: o+ F! a6 v* y1 ~8 Aunderstand.
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I understand some of the hostility to Mr. Trump’s action. The isolationist wing of the 1 u3 F5 q9 f6 T0 ~4 [, W. @, t
Republican Party and the pacifist wing of the Democratic Party each are wrapped in the . k1 t) C5 b1 @& _- S2 _4 M
fantasy that we can afford to ignore the capabilities and intentions of enemies because * g- C: C& N/ D# k
they are thousands of miles away. Two hundred years ago that view was credible. One
2 c% f( D' S' B% V$ a: O0 S3 @hundred years ago it was plausible. Today it takes only one missile carrying a nuclear or + c7 R# l* Y1 a& V6 c9 @: ^
dirty bomb to get through our defenses, or one such device smuggled into this country, ! f) d5 T& K9 Y9 x- Q B6 t
to devastate a city. ! t# n/ q4 ^7 F, H3 x
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I also understand—and deplore—the fringes of both parties that apparently hate Israel
' z% s, A ?) z) f: x9 Wand Jews so much that they oppose any action to neutralize Israel’s enemies.
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What is harder to understand, and particularly troubling for our country, is opposition / M L D3 N e0 Z
rooted simply in antipathy toward Mr. Trump himself. We used to say that politics stops 9 M3 w; N2 A# N" f
at the water’s edge. That was never completely true; the willingness to bludgeon a
+ v& e4 @# R" A" d. `7 }president over foreign policy for domestic political gain is as old as Vice
" V1 O" [% a. [9 f7 g% n% f/ w4 qPresident Thomas Jefferson’s attacks on President John Adams. Yet for most of our 1 W+ \1 B; n5 d- R
history we have given the president the benefit of the doubt.
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2 x* q7 v& l. R9 M- ~4 f6 EMore important, criticisms have historically been based on policy differences over the d$ d! n, I: M) A- Y# g3 {. X
military action at hand, not knee-jerk opposition to the president himself. Many 6 {8 E% q6 n1 Q5 G% v
Republicans supported Mr. Clinton’s military actions and President Obama’s surge in
: d4 ]: R9 }, b3 G7 k9 _/ TAfghanistan; many Democrats supported President George W. Bush’s actions in % d- S! ^; t* A0 v) ~2 r' T4 C
Afghanistan and (at least initially) Iraq. More Republicans than Democrats probably + X A& o9 R! j9 I1 V
supported President Lyndon B. Johnson’s actions in Vietnam.
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More important still, even when we believed a president’s actions were misguided, we " K* P' I9 z% }# X9 ~) H. G* |. h5 M
almost always wanted him to succeed if possible. Some efforts to curtail what the
& O, ]+ ^! [: X& l- Opresident is doing in Iran seem motivated simply by a desire not to give him a win—' x9 _# a6 L& S" @( W6 E9 D
even if it means a loss for America. 0 g3 T( t& S! d# @3 C( ?
8 ?- p4 Z$ a0 H5 G* RWhen North Korea invaded South Korea President Harry S. Truman acted to stop it. It
3 ]. J* ^* g) y t1 N$ Gwas so unpopular that Truman didn’t seek re-election in 1952. Dwight Eisenhower was
9 L# P! Q: z; o/ ?8 i+ Yelected on the promise that he would go to Korea and end the war. But while Truman 3 M/ c4 s0 S# e4 a
was president, lawmakers on both sides supported Truman, even when he removed the
0 T2 v1 \" i# `8 K9 Xpopular Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command.
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Truman’s successful defense of South Korea began a four-decade bipartisan effort to
3 S5 z& a$ m! O/ C/ o* Lcontain, and ultimately end, communism as a global threat. One wonders what the % _" D0 Y5 K, {5 k! g1 d
result would have been if he faced a country as divided and partisan as today’s.
* R+ V$ r' e( oRepublicans, including Mr. Trump, bear a share of the blame for the divisiveness and . \- @! }0 X& J- T1 u: I
extreme partisanship that has stunted our ability to cooperate and work together. Those 7 |) |' q2 U4 _: P
of us who generally oppose Mr. Trump but who recognize the threat Iran poses need to , j$ |5 ^0 C2 v; b w
support the military action not because we owe anything to Mr. Trump but because we
3 J6 i- a9 q. X7 }1 zowe it to ourselves, our country and our children.
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If we opposed the war and succeeded in pressuring Mr. Trump to curtail it before the + B/ x% S) ?: M$ G0 p
mission is accomplished, we would have the satisfaction of defeating someone we
6 Z i# m2 Y$ }$ Qgenerally oppose, which might help ourselves politically. But America would be worse
6 {& v/ _4 c0 }for it.
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America’s national security is too important to hold hostage to partisanship. We ( u0 M) m+ G2 T
Democrats need to begin by asking what our position would be, and why, if the action : [9 v! s9 q1 W
had been taken by Mr. Clinton, Mr. Obama or Mr. Biden. I’m not counting on it, but 2 ^/ _; C3 @# i. j9 E2 _
maybe in 2029, when a Democrat is in the White House, our Republican neighbors will % i6 I: C4 a! I* G+ n. {9 ]6 p
return the favor, and judge that president’s efforts to keep our nation safe on the merits
8 {8 W3 S% x5 G" j) Tand not merely obstruct. 5 ^8 U% W; h+ d8 {2 N
# e9 q" U8 W1 N5 c! {4 VIf we believe that Iran presents a serious threat, we need to support the president on
& z: J. r* c! d7 n, W/ w) rthis issue. There’s plenty to disagree with him about, and we don’t need to like or |5 R' c4 f7 F
admire him. But on Iran we should be on common ground. Not primarily because we
, r6 V/ |- c- v( e& f, rwant to reduce partisanship in foreign affairs—although that is conceivable. Not
+ [4 L2 y7 i# t$ ^; ` h7 Fbecause the voters will reward us for a more measured response—although I hope they
3 I A. `: z* `! n% m+ ywill. But because it is the right thing to do for our country, our children and the
8 L: r- V) c& k! c6 \Democrat who will succeed Mr. Trump as president.
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1 f! U6 u0 l7 o7 i( D$ n: v# k, |3 eMr. Boies is a founding partner of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner |
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